Module 8, Session 3

Lecture Notes

Note: The information that is provided in this module is generic and basic to instruction. It does not duplicate information in other modules. The links provided below are in support of the instructional elements, features, or strategies discussed in this module. Some links are commercial but offer relevant on-line information.

1) Complications Due to Instructional Settings

The settings in which alternative education takes place often introduce instructional complications. For instance, instruction might be at a regular school where gang friction spills into the classroom or where a range of labs and shop options are not available. At the other extreme, there are some facilities where youth are placed in isolation for periods of time and teaching occurs with a teacher sitting on a stool and passing work through a slot in a steel door.

Teachers in unique setting find that they must adapt instruction to both the needs of the youth and the limitations of the setting. Effective teaching can require ingenuity, advocacy, and perseverance. Having a creative and open mind helps; each situation often require a different solution. A few challenges and suggestions are cited below.

1. The need for quick assessment that can be used to help place a student in appropriate materials in settings where student turnover is high and lengths of stay, short.

Adapt short sections from standardized tests.
Use a quick form of a standardized test.
Have student complete a short work sample.
Have a file of criterion based measures relevant to your instruction

Develop a quick interview procedure to determine interest and level.

2. The need for adaptations where security dictates limited student movement in projects or cooperative learning.

Organize seating so it allows small groups to share without moving.
Have workstations prearranged and assignments made weekly.
Have group member add to written work of previous member.
Have one person at board, overhead, or Power Point adding solutions from other class members.

3. The desire to provide information to parents in settings where direct parent contact is not permitted, advisable, or possible.

With student’s approval, provide multi copied progress reports to parents through probation and copies to others, e.g. mental health.
Provide reports or products to students so they can send to parents or share on visitation days.
Maintain a student portfolio for student use or to be available for student at time of transfer.

4. The need to provide homework in settings where pencils are issued at the start of class and retrieved and counted at the end of class.

Arrange for supervised out-of-school study periods.
Arrange a safe place for students to store schoolwork at the unit level.
Provide “Books on Tape” in areas where allowed.
Provide voice mail or computer storage for recording of assignments, where available.

5. Need for a process to smooth the educational transition between alternative education and the home school.

Negotiate for “teacher alert’ before student movement.
Begin transition process at point of entry.
Provide a pre-release program (curriculum).
Arrange for information transfer with responsible agency person.

2) Characteristics of the Learner, Teacher, and Success

Under any circumstances learning is a complex system. Working with students who are at-risk of school failure adds several layers to that complexity. The setting, the students, the content and the teachers all add to the challenge of instruction.

http://www.funderstanding.com/influences.cfm (in About Learning – Influences)

Students who are at-risk of dropping out of school, who are failing in school, or who are in alternative settings exhibit a constellation of problems that challenge teaching skills.

1. These students are often characterized by -

• low academic skills and achievement

• a history of school failure

• poor motivation

• lack of positive models

• negative peer pressure

• passive or active disengagement

• poor attendance or high mobility

2. Teachers who are successful with these youth –

• know their subject and are prepared

• implement ways to engage students in learning,

• provide safe ways for students to be successful,

• provide authentic recognition for successful achievement

• recognize and reinforce persistence and growth

• provided differentiated instruction that recognizes differences

• maintain reasonable rules for behavior

3. Evidence of the success of a lesson –

• level of understanding during content instruction

• time students are on-task during practice

• level of enthusiasm or energy during practice

• accuracy of practice after content instruction

• number of students engaged in appropriate work during practice

• products, knowledge, or skill at the end of lesson

• student evaluation of lesson

• level of student application in subsequent classes

3) Basic Instructional Steps

Instructional Steps

The following five elements commonly occur in effective instruction.

1.    Introduction to the lesson

This step can take many forms including: identifying the objective(s) of the lesson, reviewing previous information, engaging students in the problem to be to be solved, setting the scene for the lesson, etc. This step provides a focus for learning and acts as a bridge from previous activities.

2.    Content of the learning

A variety of strategies can be used to provide the basic content of instruction, including lecture, discussion, demonstration, clarification, and problem solving. This step provides the knowledge upon which the student will act.

3.    Check on understanding

At this point the instructor determines the student’s level of understanding, knowledge, or skill that resulted from content instruction and, as necessary, provides more group or individual instruction.

4.    Practice or performance

Much of learning takes place when the learner tests new information or skill. During student practice the teacher can continue to verify the level of understanding and the need for more individual or group assistance. During this period the teacher often circulates among the students and provides positive support, clarification, and reassurance.

5.    Closing a Lesson

Some active form of closure is provided through a wide variety of strategies including student or teacher summarization, student evaluation of the lesson, brief quiz, out-of-class assignment, or preview of next lesson.

The steps in effective instruction are often associated with direct instruction; however, they are basic to many instructional methods. For instance, the teaching described in True Notebooks (Salzman, 2003), while essentially constructivist, approximates the above outline. In Salzman’s writing class in a Los Angeles detention center he follows this pattern of steps:

• introduces a writing topic or encourages his students to introduce a topic;

• after discussing the topic he further individualizes the topic, if necessary;

• at some point he returns typed and corrected copies of students’ writings from the previous class, with spelling and punctuation corrections;

• students write for a period of time, alone or with individual attention as needed; and

• students then read out loud what they have written and a summary discussion occurs.

Basic Elements Of Instruction:  http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/hunter-eei.html

4) Instructional Planning

The delivery of instruction is the result of long-term, intermediate, and daily planning. Long-term planning involves the determination of the range of the subject for which the teacher is responsible, the instructional time available, the standards that guide instruction, and the sequence of topics within the subject.

A subject area is then broken into intermediate time frames as units or chunks of learning that can be logically sequenced, organized around common principles, contains interrelated knowledge and skills, or responds to a series of related questions or objectives.

The daily lesson plan is at the heart of instruction. It guides the immediate learning experience of children and youth. The application of the lesson plan is what is observed in a classroom, and the results can be measured and evaluated. The instruction is focused and practice occurs.

The following outline provides the common features of an instructional plan.

Title of the Unit

Title of the Lesson

Goal

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.html

Objectives or Questions

Relevant National, State, or District Standards

http://www.cde.ca.gov/standards/

Student Knowledge or Skill Required

Adaptations or Choices Available for Differentiated Instruction

Your instructional design:

Five theories of instruction design:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/development.html

Bloom: Cognitive Levels: Knowledge, Comprehension,

Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation (Bloom, 1956)

http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/assessment/multiplechoicequestions/blooms.html

Behaviorist View:

http://www.soe.ecu.edu/ltdi/colaric/KB/BehavioralID.html

Materials Required

Basic Instructional Steps - from 3) 1. above)

1. Introduction …

2. Content …

3. Check …

4. Performance …

5. Close …

Reflection

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/curr_content/adapthandbook/instr/reflect.html

5) Samples of Instructional Methods

Direct Instruction

In teacher directed instruction (DI) teaching is based on small carefully designed, sequenced, and scripted tasks. Commercially, prepackaged instruction materials model direct instruction design as well as provide the content of instruction. Individual and group work outside DI is also supported in this model.

Description http://www.uoregon.edu/~bgrossen/pubs/aftdi.htm

Evaluation http://www.jefflindsay.com/EducData.shtml

Resources http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/DI.html

Article http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/diarticle.html

Course

Materials http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/

Math http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mathman/)

Reading http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adiep/rdgtxt.htm)

Constructivist Instruction

Knowledge is actively created by the learner. Learning is a social, cultural, and emotional process with learners participate in the construct their own meaning. Strategies of reciprocal teaching, shared leaning, teachers as learners, and reflection by learners provide example of constructivist learning.

Design http://home.okstate.edu/homepages.nsf/toc/EDUC5910iep12

Theory-Bruener http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html

Reserch http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR5-1/colon.html

Web-based http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/457164.html

Math http://www.terc.edu/investigations/relevant/html/constructivistlearning.html

Textbook Instruction

Textbooks are widely used by teachers and many teachers base their instructional lessons around the content and sequence within textbooks. Teacher guides provide teachers with examples of teaching strategies, instructional activities, and relevant background information.

Curriculum & Textbook

Content: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/c1/c1s4.htm

Strategic Reader http://www.cast.org/udl/index.cfm?i=172

Survey: http://www.nea.org/nr/nr021008.html

SQ3R: http://www.midtel.net/~natebg/textbook.htm

History: http://www.theaha.org/perspectives/issues/2003/0301/0301tec1.cfm

Thematic Instruction

In thematic instruction the teacher (or students) select a topic around which several subjects, such as, science, social science, language arts, or art. are organized. The pivotal topic can be drawn from any subject area and becomes a centralizing theme for readings, projects, experiments, and assignments. Topics from science (e.g., sea life) or social science (e.g. revolution) are typical but moral concepts (e.g. courage), can act a powerful themes,

http://www.todaysteacher.com/thematicTeaching.html

http://.kovalik.com/

Cross-

Curricular http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/vogt.html

Institutional Themes

A few alternative education sites support a theme that is applied to the instructional program. Two examples are provided here.

Tribes, Community, and Personal Responsibility

See Module 2, Strategies

School wide http://www.tribes.com/article_building_communities.htm

Home Page http://www.tribes.com/

Restorative Justice and Responsibility

Community http://ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp/

State Juvenile Detention http://www.cya.ca.gov/Library/news/cyatoday/vic99/p4c.html

Balanced http://www.mibarj.org/s1othprof/

Cooperative Learning

Students work together in small groups toward specific academic goals. Learning is structured so that each student contributes to the group goal, and each is accountable for the group achievement. Key elements include positive student interdependence, face-to-face interactions, and individual and group accountability.

Overview http://www.co-operation.org/pages/overviewpaper.html

Diversity http://www.cde.ca.gov/iasa/cooplrng.html

References http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Cooperative_Learning.html

Elements http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed370881.html

Articles http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/cooperative_learning/

Problem-Solving Teaching/Learning

Problem-based learning involves posing significant, real world situations that need solutions and providing guidance, resources, and instruction to increase student knowledge and problem-solving skills. Learning often occurs in small group vs. lecture format Description

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/problearn.html

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/pbl/info.html

Center http://www.imsa.edu/team/cpbl/cpbl.html

Disciplines http://curriculumfutures.org/instruction/a04-06.html

Projects

For some adults, class project are the most positive and vividly memories they hold about school. Projects involve the active participation by students often are highly motivating, and can result in products, demonstrations, or displays. Goals are clearly established, resources identified, and activities guided.

K-12

4 areas http://www.4teachers.org/projectbased/checklist.shtml)

Resources http://www.iearn-canada.org/guideontheside.html

Definition http://members.aol.com/culebramom/pblprt.html

Benefits http://www.nwrel.org/request/2002aug/benefits.html

Internet http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/projects/helpful.html

Service Learning

Grounded in experiential learning, service learning places students in field-based settings where they perform service (doing) and reflect (thinking) on their activities, purpose and outcomes. Students take responsibility for their own learning in activities that are relevant to a curriculum and meet community needs.

High School http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/witmer94book.html

Standards http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/ciservicestandards/ciserviceframe.htm

Profiles http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlcl/bbfcsp/slprpage.html

Reflections http://www.imakenews.com/psla/e_article000118770.cfm

Survey Data http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/1999043/

Higher Educ. http://csf.colorado.edu/sl/

Differentiated Instruction

In special education the focus on individuals is at the heart of the Individualized Educational Program; the general education counterpart is differentiated instruction. Both approaches recognize that individuals learn differently – they have different backgrounds, different learning styles, different interests, different learning rates, different modes of expression, etc. Planning for differences can improve instruction and learning.

Description: http://www.ascd.org/pdi/demo/diffinstr/differentiated1.html

Description/ Links http://www.teachnology.com/currenttrends/cooperative_learning/

How to: http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0009/holloway.html

Comprehensive Lists: http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/ddc/incl/difinst.htm

Suggested Journals and Readings:

Beyond Behavior

http://www.ccbd.net/beyondbehavior/

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/2000_6_5/contents.html

Journal of Court and Community Schools

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/jccs/counseling/nov.pdf.

Journal of Learning Disabilities